After four decades, Black Sabbath tops U.S. album chart

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Veteran heavy-metal band Black Sabbath landed its first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, more than four decades after the rockers debuted their first album in the United States.

Original members of the rock band Black Sabbath, Bill Ward (L), Ozzy Osborne (2nd L), Geezer Butler and Tony Lommi (R), announce their reunion during a news conference at the Whiskey A Go Go, the club where the band first performed 41 years ago, in Los Angeles, California November 11, 2011. REUTERS/David McNew

“13,” the 19th studio album from Black Sabbath, sold 155,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, knocking last week’s No. 1 album by Queens of the Stone Age off the top spot on the weekly U.S. album chart.

Black Sabbath, an English rock band fronted by lead singer Ozzy Osbourne, released their debut self-titled album in North America in 1970, but were never able to notch the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart in a career spanning 43 years.

“The news is absolutely amazing - we couldn’t have imagined this would happen,” guitarist and founding member Tony Iommi said in a statement. Osbourne added, “to finally have our first No. 1 album in the U.S. is another incredible milestone for Black Sabbath.”

French electronic duo Daft Punk held steady for the second week at No. 2 with “Random Access Memories,” which has sold 543,000 copies since its release on May 18.

Justin Timberlake’s “The 20/20 Experience” saw a surge in sales last week after the album was discounted for Father’s Day, with 35,000 copies sold and climbing from No. 9 to No. 3.

Country band Florida Georgia Line also benefited from Father’s Day promotion sale prices, as their album “Here’s to the Good Times” climbing back into the top 10 at No. 5.

Black Sabbath was one of five new debut albums in the top ten this week.

Boy band Big Time Rush came in at No. 4 with “24/Seven,” alternative-rockers Goo Goo Dolls landed at No. 8 with their latest record “Magnetic,” and movie score maestro Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack for Superman movie “Man of Steel” flew into No. 9.

Comedy trio The Lonely Island, fronted by former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Andy Samberg, rounded out the top 10 with their latest collection of parodies, “The Wack Album.”

Overall album sales totaled 5.25 million for the week ending June 16, down 10 percent from the comparable sales week in 2012, according to Billboard.

Next week’s chart is likely to see a high debut from rapper Kanye West, who released his latest record “Yeezus” this week and is currently at the top of the iTunes album chart.